Before contacting me

Undergrads: skip to the bottom

Prospective graduate students and postdocs: please read this website and my papers before contacting me. Know that you are interested in working in my area of research. If your email states a vague interest such as “bioinformatics” or “evolution” it significantly reduces the chances I’ll write back.

Please let me know your research interests. I want to work with people who have their own ideas and goals. If you are a prospective graduate student let me know what have you done that was really exciting and you would like to investigate further. If you are finishing graduate school consider what research questions could we work on together and develop into a grant application.

If you’re interested in graduate school, show me you have the potential to do well in graduate school. Potential means you can communicate well in your email, you have done research as an undergraduate or graduate student (so you know that’s what you want to do for the next 2-5 years), and you work hard. However, don’t feel intimidated by these requests. If you got excited about something you learned in class and haven’t done research contact me anyway. I do not require prior programming experience. However, you should expect to do a lot of computational work in the lab, so make sure that spending time computing sounds okay. See here for some things you’ll learn.

Send your C.V. or resume. It helps me to see your experience. If you don’t know what a C.V. should look like, look at mine. You don’t have to have extensive experience, but I want to see you’ve been working toward your goals in school and research.

For additional advice see http://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/25/how-to-write-an-email-to-a-potential-ph-d-advisor/

Prospective Postdocs

If you are interested in working with me, please contact me by email. Postdocs must have a Ph.D. in hand before the start date. I welcome contact well prior to completion of a Ph.D. to plan for postdoc fellowship applications. Inquiries for this position should demonstrate good written communication skills, and please, no form letters.

[Expectations]

Prospective Graduate Students

If you are interested in working with me, please contact me by email as early as possible. Prospective students should plan to visit in the fall. The deadline for the receipt of completed applications is January 15 for admission to the Fall semester. I accept MS and PhD students through the Biological and Environmental Sciences graduate program (http://web.uri.edu/cels-gradprograms/bes/) in the College of the Environement and Life Sciences, with specialization in Evolutionary Biology (http://web.uri.edu/cels-gradprograms/ieb/) or Cell and Molecular Biology (http://web.uri.edu/cels-gradprograms/cmb/). Support is available through TA and RA positions.

[Expectations]

[Why URI]

Undergraduates

If you are an undergraduate interested in working in my lab, please read the research page and the following expectations and responsibilities, then email me (1) your resume, (2) your transcript, and (3) a paragraph describing your research interests and course background.

[Expectations]